Or established companies can simply steal their ideas and try to bury them in legal bullshit—like Ford, etc tried to do :
* https://thehustle.co/windshield-wiper-inventor-robert-kearns...
* https://www.autonews.com/article/20081002/ZZZ_SPECIAL/810029...
* https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-robert-kea...